Hello everyone, I am new on the forum, but in no way new to RV life.
We have had mixed results with our latest TT so far, it is a Coachmen (Forest River), bought new 2/2016.
Some of the things have been awesome, for example:
We have camped in 105F days in West Texas with no shade, and still held 69F inside. (this is a major upgrade over our older RVision MaxLite)
It seems insulated well, three slides and no obvious drafts. The AC actually cycles in anything other than mid afternoon without shade.
It pulls very well mannered, the axles are spaced apart substantually more than our previous unit, I haven't dealt with sway much with this unit, only time will tell how this spacing will affect the tires, but I can feel the turning resistance when making sharper turns, more tire marks on clean concrete also.
There are a lot of "niceitys" that are new to us, but are common on most new rigs. The pull out sink faucets, large ergonomic bathroom, storage everywhere, all LED lighting (including most compartments), electric fireplace, power jacks, just to name a few.
Some other things have been somewhat problematic:
Our outdoor kitchen, the luggage door leaked, the wood inside was MDF, this was a bad combination as all of the wood swole and warped. The warranty fixed the leak but did not replace the wood without leaving my unit at the dealer for several more weeks for a company representitive to inspect it (in the middle of summer, I think not). Usually, I would be flat out furious, but my brother is a carpenter, so we re-built the entire drink station out of solid oak, problem solved (upgraded actually).
Our bedroom slide ceased to function while packing up to go home one trip. After troubleshooting the fuses and breaker on the slide motor, I noticed that the signal wire to the wall switch had pulled out from the slide control box (2 prong plug). I plugged it it and everything worked. I only bring this up because I could see where less troubleshooting savy people may have needed a service call ($$$). I will also point out that it was all due to the wires being bundled too tight (poor craftsmenship). I loosened the bundle and gave it more slack, it hasn't happened again.
I would not buy a unit with a regrigerator on a slide ever again. The whole power venting out the side, really, really annoys me. Not only is it noisy, but it is a battery drain as well. I ended up installing 2 batteries and a perko switch just because of this. Where I hunt, we boondock it, and generally only run a generator when needed (A/C or TV).
There have been quite a few things I had to go around and fix. The splash guards on the shower door kept falling off, I cleaned and reinstalled with clear silicone (problem solved). I also had to apply silicone to the tail lights and the power jack switch, as they were both leaking. There have been several screws that either needed tightening or replaced with longer screws (sliding door floor guides and various outlets). My point is, lots of little things, here and there.
I do feel though, that I have most of the issues ironed out now (without manufacturers help). I am not saying that Coachmen or Forest River are total junk, but just that there is some craftsmenship shortsightedness. I think their floorplans and design are wonderful. If I could do it all again, I would prefer another Jayco, but we never found a floorplan that we loved on the new units.
I rest my case.
Joe
